Scandal-hit Tokyo governor to give up 1-year salary as punishment

TOKYO, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Naoki Inose, governor of Japan's capital city of Tokyo, said he will give up his salary for next year as a "penance" for accepting money from a hospital organization Tokushukai, according to local media.

Inose pledged at a general committee session of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly set up to question the scandal that Inose accepted 50 million yen (about 485,250 U.S. dollars) ahead of his election last December.

Inose, 67, also apologized to assembly members and Tokyo residents for the misbehavior, adding he feels responsible for making sure preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics do not get bogged down, reported Japan's Kyodo News.

Tokushukai has been linked to alleged vote-buying on behalf of lower house member Takeshi Tokuda in the December 2012 lower house election.

Inose apologized on Nov. 29 to the regular assembly for accepting the fund, but the assembly's largest factions said questioning in regular sessions was insufficient to bring him to account for his actions, said Kyodo.